High carbohydrate and fibre consumption is linked to an increase in endometrial cancer

This study was published in the American  Journal of Epidemiology 2007 Oct 15;166(8):912-23

Study title and authors:
Dietary carbohydrates, glycemic index, glycemic load, and endometrial cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort.

Cust AE, Slimani N, Kaaks R, van Bakel M, Biessy C, Ferrari P, Laville M, Tjønneland A, Olsen A, Overvad K.
Nutrition and Hormones Unit, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France. annec@health.usyd.edu.au

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17670911

The associations of dietary carbohydrates, dietary glycemic load, and dietary fiber with endometrial cancer risk were analyzed among 288,428 women over a 6.4 year period with a total of 1,842, 995 person years of follow up.

The study found:

• For every 100 grams per day rise in carbohydrate consumption there is a 61% increased risk of endometrial cancer.
• For every 50 units per day rise in glycemic load there is a 40% increased risk of endometrial cancer.
• For every 10 gram per day rise in fibre consumption there is a 27% increased risk of endometrial cancer.

This study shows that a higher carbohydrate and fibre consumption is linked to an increase in endometrial cancer.

Higher carbohydrate and fibre consumption leads to increased rates of breast cancer

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009 Jan;89(1):283-9

Study title and author:

Dietary carbohydrates, fiber, and breast cancer risk in Chinese women.

Wen W, Shu XO, Li H, Yang G, Ji BT, Cai H, Gao YT, Zheng W.

Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203-1738, USA. wanqing.wen@vanderbilt.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19056583

The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of carbohydrates and dietary fibre with breast cancer risk. A total of 74,942 women aged 40-70 were involved in the study which lasted over 7 years.

The study found:

• Women who ate the most carbohydrate had a 22% increased rate of breast cancer compared to the women who ate the least carbohydrate.
• Women who ate the most fibre had a 9% increased rate  of breast cancer compared to the women who ate the least fibre.

This study found that increased dietary carbohydrate and fibre leads to higher rates of breast cancer.

High fat diets protect against breast cancer

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 1992 Oct 21;268(15):2037-44

Study title and authors:

Dietary fat and fiber in relation to risk of breast cancer. An 8-year follow-up.

Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Colditz G, Manson JE, Spiegelman D, Rosner B, Hennekens CH, Speizer FE.

Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02215.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1328696

This study investigated the association of dietary fat, fiber and the risk of breast cancer. 89,494 women aged 34 - 59 were followed up for 8 years.

The study found:

·         Women who had the highest fat intake had a 14% decreased risk of breast cancer.

·         Women who had the lowest dietary fibre intake had a 2% decreased risk of breast cancer.

This study shows that dietary fat is protective against breast cancer incidence.